Flying machine



May 3,1927. 1,627,019

c. DORNIER FLYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 13. 1924 Patented May 3, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1, 27,019 PATENT OFFICE.

GLAUDIUS DORNIER, OF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN-ON-THEeBODElN'SEE, GERMANY, ASSIGllTOR F ONE-HALF TO THE FIRM DORNIER METALLBAUTEN GESELLSCEAIT MIT BESCHRANKTER EAFTUNG, OF FBIEDRICHSH AIEN-ON-THE-BODENSEE, GERMANY.

FLYING MACHINE.

Application filed October 13, 1924, Serial No. 743,418, and in Germany October 18, 1923.

My invention refers to flying boats and it concerns more particularly the combination, with the hull of such boats, of torpedoes to be fired from these hulls. It is an objectof j my invention to so combine a torpedo w th the hull of a flying boat that the shape of the hull is not changed to any material extent and the air rcsistance of the craft is not materially increased.

, Hitherto it has been proposed to store a torpedo away in a groove-like cavity of the boats bottom. However, as the upper wall of the cavity projected into the interior of the boats hull, the space available therein was materially reduced. Moreover, starting capacity of the machine as well as its air resistance are unfavorably influenced by the irregular form of the boats bottom, and further the weight of a boats hull of this kind is greater than the weight of a normal hull.

According to the present invention all these drawbacks are avoided by locating the torpedo or a plurality of torpedoes on the outside of the bottom of the hull proper and providing a casing for the rear part of the torpedo, this casing being so shaped as to otter-the least resistance to air and to starting in Water. Thus the rear part of the torpedd-comprising the propeller and driving mechanism'is surrounded by the casing, while the rest of the torpedo body is freely suspended below the boats hull.

-The casing may be used for fixing the torpedo in place and it can be arranged so as to be opened and closed partly or entirely. In a preferred form the cover is connected with the boats hull in an easily'removable manner so that it can be disconnected and thrown off after thejtorpedo has been fired. In View of the fact that a torpedo has a ;form which otters very little resistance to propulsion it is preferable to throw off the 'cover immediately after starting. If this shall be done, the cover is preferably designed in such manner as to float on the water in order to facilitate its recovery.

By thus attaching torpedoes to the bulls of flying beats it is possible to fit out any normal flying boat with a torpedo without in any way changing the construction of the hull and without rendering it'unfit for O inary use, p i

the

in the. art.

portion of a torpedo.

the rear portion of a'tor e do.

v In the drawings atfixed to this specification and forming part thereof two modifications of a flying boats hull embodying my invention are illustrated diagrammatically by way of example.

In the drawings Fig. 1 shows the middle portion of a flying boats hull with a torpedo attached to it.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the hulls bottom, casing and torpedo, drawn to a larger scale.

Referring to the drawings a is the hull of a flying boat, I) is the torpedo disposed underneath the bottom a of. the hull and d is a cover attached to the bottom by screw' bolts 9 and serving as a housing for the torpedo. The bottom of this casing has the form of converging flaps h, h connected to the casing by hinges z and locked in closing position by means of a lever k governed by a ropeor wire Z. By pulling the wire, the lever 70 allows the flaps hto swing out so as-to uncover the rear portion of the torpedo, which is suspended from the hull by means of belts e or the like. Byloosening the screw bolts from within the boat the casing can be dis engaged from its bottom. so

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for any modifications will occur to a person skilled I claim 1. Flying boat comprising a hull, a casing attached .to the hulls bottom and adapted to accommodate the rear portion of a. tor-. pedo and separate means for suspending the torpedo fromthe hulls bottom. p

2.- Flying boat comprising a -hull and a casing removably attached to the hulls bottom and adapted to accommodate the rear 3. Flying boat comprising a hull and 'a' casing attached to the hulls bottom and adapted to accommodate the rear portion of a torpedo, said casing being designedso as to be capable of floating on the water. v 4. Flying boat comprising a hull, a casing in several parts'movably attached to the hulls bottom and adapted to accommodate In'testrmony whereof afiixm ature,

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